Is licking/eating dirt ok?

[LaurenLC]

All in the topic.
I honestly have no idea.

[sweetsong]

The babies I spend lots of time with love to eat dirt. I always tell them "no" very sternly though when I catch them. Why do they eat dirt but throw their fruit on the floor? Ah, the mysteries of life.

Dirt has the possibility of containing urine and fecal matter, pesticides, fertilizer, dead animal/bug matter, bacteria, and tons of other nasty stuff. Plus, your body isn't really meant to eat and digest tiny rocks, tiny pieces of wood, and all the other things dirt is made of.

Don't eat dirt!

[LaurenLC]

The babies I spend lots of time with love to eat dirt. I always tell them "no" very sternly though when I catch them. Why do they eat dirt but throw their fruit on the floor? Ah, the mysteries of life.

Dirt has the possibility of containing urine and fecal matter, pesticides, fertilizer, dead animal/bug matter, bacteria, and tons of other nasty stuff. Plus, your body isn't really meant to eat and digest tiny rocks, tiny pieces of wood, and all the other things dirt is made of.

Don't eat dirt!

Hm... urine and fecal matter, even bug matter i could live with, the rest id rather avoid...

I think ill wait it out for a second opinion ;)

[Stardares]

Nah, it's not. It's got shit loads of bacteria in, and you'll be throwing up and be feeling terrible.
I suggest eating something else, or if you're determined, find a way to clean the dirt.

[physosophy]

From the wiki:
"Clostridium botulinum is a gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium that produces neurotoxins known as botulinum neurotoxins types A-G, which causes flaccid muscular paralysis seen in botulism, and is also the main paralytic agent in botox. It is an anaerobic spore-former, which produces oval, subterminal endospores and is commonly found in soil." (emphasis mine)

So no.

[LaurenLC]

Thankyou both - I consider myself brain-exploded, but informed

[Viking_Guy]

Well, you could plant some vegetables in the dirt and eat them :)

[Marsbound]

Hm... urine and fecal matter, even bug matter i could live with, the rest id rather avoid...
Fecal matter is actually one of the worst risk factors, because animal feces can carry all kinds of parasites that you wouldn't normally be exposed to. Nematode eggs can stay dormant in soil for years.

The bacteria thing is true too. I think salmonella is a major one.

Another risk is serious damage to your teeth. Consider that dirt is mainly made up of tiny particles of rock, which are going to ruin the shit out of your tooth enamel.

That said, while it's not smart it's not really that bad in small quantities, but there's always a risk. There are still cultures today which consume soil and clay for various traditional or curative reasons.
Two things you can do to mitigate that risk is bake the soil in an oven first to partially kill anything in it, and you should also try to use dirt from deeper underground, because the topmost layers are probably going to contain higher concentrations of biological crap.
Only if you're dead set on it though. It's still a Bad Idea.

[sweetsong]

There's a friend of my family who recently got a parasite from just breathing in dirt. It is slowly eating away at his muscles inside his body and the doctors are giving him medicine that is destroying his organs in order to try and kill the parasite.

Yeah, stay away from dirt. >.>

[misty]

I am pissed because the health food store down the road quit selling it.

Now I have to drive clear across town to Lowe's or Home Depot and purchase a forty pound bag!

[ttreasure]

Well, eating dirt is pretty bad, I agree, but what, if I were, hypothetically, orally cleaning a mistress's shoe - that would probably have the same effect, right?

[theone]

Eating dirt is really bad and dangerous for you. Period.